The invention relates generally to an energy management feature for vehicle seating.
Vehicle seating typically includes a seat bottom and a seat back to support a driver or passenger. In certain seating configurations, both the seat bottom and seat back include a rigid chassis, cushions, and a fabric covering. The cushions are coupled to the rigid chassis, and the fabric covering is disposed about the assembly. The rigid chassis of the seat bottom serves to support the weight (i.e., vertical load) of the passenger, and couples the seat to a floor of the vehicle.
Certain vehicle seats include a position adjustment mechanism configured to vary a height and/or orientation of the seat bottom chassis relative to the floor of the vehicle. For example, the position adjustment mechanism may include multiple links extending between a base and a main tube of the seat bottom chassis. In certain configurations, one link may include a sector gear configured to interface with a drive gear to facilitate rotation of the link relative to the base. As the link rotates, the main tube is driven vertically upward or downward relative to the vehicle floor, thereby varying the height and/or orientation of the seat bottom chassis.
During a rear impact, a driver or passenger within the vehicle seat will apply a rearward force to the seat back and/or a downward force to a rear portion of the seat bottom. The rearward force applied to the seat back will be transferred through a recliner mechanism to the seat bottom chassis, thereby driving the seat bottom chassis rearwardly and downwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle. As a result, the links will be urged to rotate. However, contact between the teeth of the sector gear and the teeth of the drive gear will block rotation of the links, thereby inducing a torque within the main tube. Consequently, an excessive impact force may induce an undesirable contact force between the teeth of the sector gear and the teeth of the drive gear, an undesirable torque through the recliner mechanism and/or an undesirable bending moment through lateral supports of the seat bottom chassis.